The best spark plugs

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Vader: Those headers look real familiar, I think I've seen them on George Debski's car (if you've heard of him). They are very nice...

Patman: I dont think anyone has gone though with the trouble of a direct comparison of shorties vs. longtubes. I know a few people who have had great luck with shorties though. A friend with a 93Z, Hotcam kit, CAI, Mac headers, stall, and 3.73s was running mid 12.4ish@108-109. Another guy with a 95 TA runs 11.8x's@118-119 with a built 355, 6lb Powerdyne blower and Mac headers. IMO the stock manifolds suck so bad almost anything would be a great improvement.

Whatever you choose I would really recommend you have them ceramic coated. Not so much for the supposed performance gains but to keep them from rusting.
 
Interestingly enough Vader, ClearImage makes a set of headers for us V6 3.8's that blow away the quality of RKSport headers. Many people like them but I still am not sure of the gains - since they're not "tuned".

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quote:
Vader: Those headers look real familiar, I think I've seen them on George Debski's car (if you've heard of him). They are very nice...
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Yup, he has a post on impalassforum.com showing how the fresh-blast tri-ys look after 2.5 years on nitrous... like new.

Patman, whatever you get, do get ceramic coated, for long life, and to eliminate heat related issues under the hood. That is definetely not an area to scrimp. Borla sells stainless headers, which should last a long time, but without the coating, it's meltdown city under the hood.

BTW, hotrod.com has a write-up on a complete borla setup on a LT1 9C1(cop)Caprice. The catback was good for 20 HP, the addition of the headers only gave 5hp more, so it is definetely not, "any header will do."
 
Thanks for the tip! My car is my daily driver, so ceramic coating will definitely be necessary to keep the heat under the hood down, with all the traffic jams I get in.

Do any vendors sell headers already coated though? I don't believe anyone up in Toronto does this coating, that's why.
 
I put long tube headers on my '94 Corvette at the same time I had dyno tuning. This was on an LT1 with the LT4 HOT cam, 1.6 RRs, cold air intake, and Borla mufflers. My dyno before the headers and tuning was 320/330 rwhp/rwtq and after was 330/350 rwhp/rwtq. How much of that was the headers vs. the tuning, I don't know. I did gain 1 1/2 to 2 tenths in the 1/8 mile. The cost for the shorties vs long tube are about the same and I don't think the shorties are worth the effort/cost, but I hear the stock F-body manifolds are worse than the vettes.

I also have a friend I helped put some long tubes on his '96 Z28. He complains about speed bumps and shops just about ripping off his exhaust when putting his car on a lift. Now, he pulls his wheels himself and takes them to the shop for tire replacement.
 
Actually Clear Image makes LT1 headers for F-bodies. A little pricey, but if they are like the Impala headers, they fall into place, and make up for the extra cost, by reducing installation time. Also, Dan gives top-notch support, something you won't find anywhere else.

http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/
 
quote:
Originally posted by VaderSS:
Actually Clear Image makes LT1 headers for F-bodies. A little pricey, but if they are like the Impala headers, they fall into place, and make up for the extra cost, by reducing installation time. Also, Dan gives top-notch support, something you won't find anywhere else.

http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/
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$1000 isnt much for long tube headers. FLP's are more than that and I know I spent at least that much for my Hooker LT setup and I'm not even that happy with it.

If I didnt have so much money in the Hookers I would definatly consider the CIA setup.

The problem is with LT1 F-bodies there is a hump is the floor board in the driver side that the tranny crossmember bolts to. It sticks down ~2" so the tube coming off the driver side header has to go over it which seriously comprimises ground clearance.
 
just pulled a set of bosch platinum out of my 1991 GMC 3500 7.4L TBI motor. I bought them originally because they were on sale for 2.99 each.

After less than 10K the electrodes look like there center punches. The Gap eroded to over 0.050" Truck was down on power but ran decent enough.

Replaced them with Old school AC delco's.
 
I use only NGK spark plugs, because they're what Honda specs for my car and because i've heard nothing but good things about 'em from other Integra owners that swear by em. I'd assume their plugs are just as good for other cars
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Trying out NGK Iridiums in my Mazda, replaced OEM wires with NGK, figure just to match. I run AC in my wife's Saturn, they do quite well.
 
I have NGK Iridiums in both the Honda Pilot and the PT Cruiser...

Best plugs I've tried so far. Champion plugs have been #@$%! for me, as well as Bosch...

As long a NGK continues to be a quality leader, they'll earn my money...
 
It seems to be "use what the factory recommends"

Autolite makes plugs for motorcraft, and my ford motors run best with an autolite/motorcraft plug.

My VW ran terrible with a NGK plug, I switched to an OEM bosch plug, thing ran like new.

One plug might not be better than another, but for each application, its different.
 
I agree 100% with Justin. From my experience, the plug that the mfg. recommends usually works best for that application. So i usually stick with oem spark plugs.
 
Quote:

It seems to be "use what the factory recommends"

Autolite makes plugs for motorcraft, and my ford motors run best with an autolite/motorcraft plug.

My VW ran terrible with a NGK plug, I switched to an OEM bosch plug, thing ran like new.

One plug might not be better than another, but for each application, its different.

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I've heard the same. I know Bosch and other brands of spark plugs aren't as effective in the Integra and other Hondas, for example. A lot of owners will tell you that the NGK's are best for Hondas (Nippon Denso are good too). Then again i've also heard that Bosch are best for most German cars, etc.
 
Use NGK Iridiums in my bike - runs very well, but so do standard plugs. The Iridiums will give a bit more life, however, and that's why I did it.

Have to get a set of plugs for my Hemi soon. Will either get a set of standard NGK's or iridiums. The only problem is that I have to get sixteen of the buggers... Not cheap. I read that the standard NGK plugs works great in a Hemi. The problem is getting at the rear cylinders. I am inclined to spend more money up front on Iridiums so that this does not have to be repeated any time soon...

John.
 
In many modern cars the factory plug is the best place to start.

I've had good luck with NGK and suprisingly the Bosch platinum and +4 line. I use the Bosch in my BMW's and the NGK's in nearly everything else!
 
It seems like every time I put a Bosch plug in a Ford engine, the car runs terrible within 10,000 miles. Motorcraft plugs are my number one choice for Fords, with Autolites being next, since they make the Motorcraft plug anyway.
 
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